Site Search Navigation

Site Navigation

Site Mobile Navigation

Supported by

Small Gain in Newspaper Circulations, Aided by Digital Subscriptions

By Tanzina Vega May 1, 2012 12:00 pmMay 1, 2012 12:00 pm

Newspapers across the country had a slight increase in daily circulation — and a surprisingly robust bump in Sunday circulation — in the last six months compared with the same period the year before, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported Tuesday.

The biggest increase was for The New York Times, whose daily circulation, including the digital version, increased 73.05 percent over the previous year, largely because of the introduction of its paid digital subscription model last year. The A.B.C. report on 618 daily newspapers for the six-month period ended March 31 counts both print and digital subscriptions.

In a statement, the Times Company attributed the gain to “the popularity of The Times’s digital subscription packages, which launched in the United States on March 28, 2011.”

The 618 newspapers with daily circulation increased 0.68 percent. The Wall Street Journal remained in the top spot with a total average daily circulation of 2,118,315, compared with 2,117,796 last year. USA Today was second with 1,817,446; The New York Times had 1,586,757; The Los Angeles Times, 616,575; and The Daily News of New York, 579,636.

The top five newspapers remained unchanged from the last A.B.C. report, issued in September, though The Daily News circulation increased 9.17 percent.

Under audit rules, newspapers can count paid digital subscribers more than once if they have daily access to digital content on multiple platforms like mobile apps or tablets as part of a bundled subscription package.

So, for example, while the Times Company announced in March that it had 454,000 subscribers for digital versions of The Times and for The International Herald Tribune, the A.B.C. figure for daily Times digital subscribers was just over 807,000. The paper with the second-highest number of digital subscribers was The Journal, with 552,288.

“It means, over all, less focus and importance placed on paid print circulation and this transition to a more broader look at cross-platform readership,” said Neal Lulofs, the executive vice president for planning and communications and general manager at ABC Interactive.

For newspapers delivered on Sundays, The New York Times led with an average circulation of 2,003,247, an increase of 49.56 percent. Next was The Los Angeles Times at 952,761; The Houston Chronicle with 916,934 (an increase of almost 56 percent); The Chicago Tribune at 779,440; and The Washington Post at 719,301 (a decline of 15.66 percent.

The New York Daily News rose 13.04 percent, and The New York Post increased 22.1. The 532 newspapers appearing Sunday had a 5 percent gain in circulation.

Caroline H. Little, chief executive of the Newspaper Association of America, said, “We’re particularly gratified to note that newspapers’ embrace of digital platforms, as well as smart and efficient circulation strategies for print products, are reflected in the numbers, which clearly demonstrate positive trends in total circulation growth for publishers.”